How does sound influence your appreciation?

A while back I posted that I love my system now that it's dialed in. It took my last speaker purchase to get to the point where practically everything sounds great, save for the poorly recorded stuff. 

It's gotten to the point where I no longer listen analytically but for pleasure and that accounts for the amount of time I do spend listening being less than I used to. Yes, I don't listen as much anymore but when I do, I do it for the pleasure of it and not to figure out how to improve my system.  It's a gift I don't take for granted or question. 

Nothing is homogenized or sounds the same. That's impossible, unless it's a low fi set up. If it did, I'd be out looking for something better. That everything sounds pretty good to great means I finally figured out or stumbled onto the system that best communicates to me.

It took a lot of years with the usual ups and downs, detours and clawbacks to realize one can't build one's system by committee. Trust your ears and stop doubting what you hear. If it sounds great across a lot of different genres, then you pretty much nailed it. Give yourself a pat on the back and don't look back.

All the best,
Nonoise

@immatthewj 

The body of the text explains it all.

Of course not. Crap is crap, no matter the system.

A significant and underappreciated factor is psychoacoustics. We listen to different types of music depending on the mood we are in (knowingly or unknowingly). We approach music differently as well: sometimes anything sounds just great, sometimes we find something to nitpick with anything we play. That is all regardless of system/SQ. The different sound impressions have more to do with my state of mind than the gear.
I have noticed that with better systems, new aspects of the same recording are coming through. Usually with music I already like, such as post-punk/avantgarde (and also some punk) and those records may not be considered "audiophile". I have been surprised more than once by the sophisticated recordings by such "unsophisticated" music.

I have also trained myself to instantaneously switch from analytical listening to appreciation listening. I like to write music "reviews", particularly of newly released music, where it helps to quickly switch between those two modes. At one point I listen to the frequency of syncopated beats in relationship to long line elements and measure break, mode changes and chords employed, then just listen how the ensemble washes over me. With classical (mainly baroque music for me), I listen for trills starting at top or bottom, what kind of trills/ornaments, intensity of messa di voce, and type of bowing used (I am an amateur viola d'amorist), and then just listen for the how it all comes together.

Continue enjoying your music!

A significant and underappreciated factor is psychoacoustics. We listen to different types of music depending on the mood we are in (knowingly or unknowingly). We approach music differently as well: sometimes anything sounds just great, sometimes we find something to nitpick with anything we play. That is all regardless of system/SQ. The different sound impressions have more to do with my state of mind than the gear.
I have noticed that with better systems, new aspects of the same recording are coming through. Usually with music I already like, such as post-punk/avantgarde (and also some punk) and those records may not be considered "audiophile". I have been surprised more than once by the sophisticated recordings by such "unsophisticated" music.

I have also trained myself to instantaneously switch from analytical listening to appreciation listening. I like to write music "reviews", particularly of newly released music, where it helps to quickly switch between those two modes. At one point I listen to the frequency of syncopated beats in relationship to long line elements and measure break, mode changes and chords employed, then just listen how the ensemble washes over me. With classical (mainly baroque music for me), I listen for trills starting at top or bottom, what kind of trills/ornaments, intensity of messa di voce, and type of bowing used (I am an amateur viola d'amorist), and then just listen for the how it all comes together.

Continue enjoying your music!